The present invention is directed to the preparation of novel opioid receptor modulators and intermediates in their synthesis. More specifically, the present invention is directed to novel processes for the preparation of compounds of formula (II)

wherein all variables are as hereinafter defined, disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/079,647, filed Mar. 15, 2004, and published as US Patent Publication US-2005-0203143-A1, Sep. 15, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Known methods for the preparation of the compounds of formula (II) and compounds of formula (I), as herein defined, require the use of dimethyl-tyrosine, which is expensive and thus not suitable for large scale synthesis. Thus there remains a need for a process for the preparation of compounds of formula (I) and compounds of formula (II) which is suitable for large scale production.